BRIDGING THE GAP: THE IMPACT OF LIMITED LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY ON HEALTH LITERACY AND HEALTHCARE EQUITY

Abstract

Health literacy has emerged as a critical determinant of population health outcomes,influencing individuals’ ability to access, interpret, evaluate, and apply health information indecision-making. Despite its importance, limited language proficiency continues to constitute amajor structural barrier to health literacy, particularly within multilingual and multicultural healthsystems in low- and middle-income countries. This narrative review critically examines therelationship between limited language proficiency and health literacy, with particular attention toits implications for healthcare equity. Drawing on global and African scholarship, the papersynthesizes evidence on how linguistic barriers shape patient-provider communication, influencecomprehension of health information, affect treatment adherence, and contribute to disparities inhealth outcomes. The review further interrogates the structural and systemic dimensions oflanguage-related inequities within healthcare systems. It concludes that addressing these challengesrequires integrated policy reforms, strengthened interpreter services, culturally responsivehealthcare communication, and digital health innovations designed for linguistic inclusivity.